Often the best dinner is the simplest, using great ingredients. Salmon is easy. Copper River Salmon enjoys a reputation for being among the tastiest of the wild salmon. You might not need to seek it out as it can be ridiculously expensive, use any good Sockeye Salmon (we prefer wild) but we got some Copper River Salmon recently and this meal was the result. The idea came from In My Kitchen by Ted Allen (the 'Chopped' guy). The salmon cooking method is how Chef Rick Bayless (from Chicago, Frontera Grill, Topolobambo, etc. and a bunch of great Mexican cookbooks) likes to do it. The flavor of the roasted sweet potatoes with the salmon (we came up with that pairing on our own) was really great.


a 6-8oz fillet of Sockeye Salmon, skin on per person
1/4 cup Horseradish Aioli per person
1/2 lb sweet potatoes (or yams) per person (approximate, use what you like), peeled (or not if that's how you like it)

Buy good mayonnaise or even better make it yourself (which is a wonderfully different flavor than the stuff in jars). Add about 2 tsp (or to taste) chopped horseradish (fresh or from a jar) and a few dashes of Worcestershire Sauce and a few teaspoons of chopped fresh parsley.

Cube the sweet potatoes into 1 1/2" pieces (give or take). Add salt and pepper to taste. Douse with Olive Oil. We also used some chopped shallots. Bake in a 450 deg. F. oven for 30-40 minutes (keep an eye on them, depends on your oven).

Salt and Pepper both sides of the salmon. Get a pan smoking hot. Best choice would be cast iron or carbon steel pans. Carefully add a few TB oil with a high smoke point. We used peanut oil. Place fillets in pan skin side down. The aim is to get really crispy skin. At the 'right time' flip it over and cook the other side. The right time depends on how you like your salmon. We want it almost rare in the middle so judge accordingly. For that you really have to get it off the heat when it looks uncooked in the middle. It will keep cooking so take it off the heat a lot sooner than you think. You probably only need to do the non-skin side for a short time.

We really like crispy fish skin so when you plate it you might want to do it skin side up so it doesn't lose it's crispness and, for that matter, maybe put the aioli on the side since putting it on top also makes the skin less crisp.

Serve it up perhaps with a few sauteed snow or snap peas on the side and you have a dinner that would have cost you a fortune in a restaurant. You'll remember it for a long time.

Pinot Noir is a good match for this dish.